How I Landed My Internship: The Do’s and Dont’s

I hope you’re as excited as I am to be one third of the way through with the semester! I’ve been really busy trying to get used to my schedule, as it’s so important to get a solid grip of what your week looks like, when you have time to do work, when you have to be in class, when you should eat, etc. etc. Midterms are coming up for me next week, so I’ve definitely been planning my week for some study time in there. One thing that I don’t have to worry about this semester though is finding an internship! I landed an internship early last semester, and I’m super excited to start working for DPR Construction in the summer!

So, the big question: how do you get an internship?

One huge, huge tip that I like to tell people is to research the companies you are looking into. You will catch a recruiter’s attention if you know exactly what the company’s mission is, what their goals are, what kind of qualities they try to develop in their employees. But most importantly, through this research you will get a better sense of whether you see yourself working towards that mission, towards developing those skills they focus on, and ultimately working for them.

For example, I went to DPR’s information session on campus, which is really common for companies to do at USC. Many companies hold information sessions that are open to anyone interested in learning more about their company. This is a wonderful opportunity for you to go up to one of the representatives and introduce yourself, ask them a few questions about their experience, about the company, or anything you want to ask them pertaining to the company or projects they are working on. This is where the research kicks in; all those questions that arose as you researched the company should come up. Hold a conversation with them, and, at the end, slip them your resume!

I was lucky enough to go to a very special kind of information session for DPR. Since they are constructing the Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience on campus, literally the building next door to where they were holding the information session, they were able to host a job walk, which is a tour of the project as it is being constructed! So, after I spoke to one of the representatives, I put on a hard hat, a yellow jacket, some safety glasses (which I posted on my IG!) and headed on over to take a tour of the building!

This is me on the job walk!

A week or two later I received an email from one of the representatives stating that I had to schedule an interview which would also take place on campus, and just like that I started prepping for this interview. I did more research, checked out some of their super dope projects around LA and the nation, and had some of my friends mock interview me. I felt prepared walking into that interview. I was blessed enough to land it, and I couldn’t have been happier when I read that email.

Please do not hesitate to ask me any questions about my internship or about landing an internship with another company! I am delighted to help in any way I can! And as always, my other peers also have some super cool blogs about their internships, so don’t forget to check those out.